Ingredients

Method

• 1 x 400 g punnet cherries, pitted
• ½ cup rum
• 400 g caster sugar
• 10 free-range egg yolks
• 2 T vanilla extract
• 4 cups cream
• 200 g Christmas cake, crumbled
• 200 g 70% dark chocolate, melted

Method

Ingredients

1. Soak the cherries in the rum overnight.

2. Beat the sugar, egg yolks and vanilla until pale and creamy, about 5 minutes. Whip the cream to soft peaks, then fold the egg mixture into the cream.

3. Fold in the cherries with their juice and the Christmas cake. Spoon into a 23 cm round cake tin or 24 cm loaf tin, then freeze.

4. Spoon the chocolate into a piping bag and fill a bowl with iced water. Pipe chocolate circles into the water, don’t go too thin. Remove from the water and layer between greaseproof paper. Cover with clingwrap or store in a Tupperware and freeze.

5. To serve, remove the semifreddo from the tin, place on a plate and decorate with the chocolate.

Cook's note: Pitting the cherries is a labour of love but it’s worth it. If you don’t fancy the rum, use a drop or two of almond extract and ½ cup cranberry juice. Instead of making the semifreddo from scratch, just use your favourite vanilla ice cream from Woolies, softened, so you can mix in the other ingredients. This also freezes well.

Find more Christmas recipes here.

Photographs: Jan Ras
Food assistants: Emma Nkunzana and Nicola Naude